Uncertainty and Communication

It is twenty-five years since Jürgen Habermas published his Theory of Communicative Action. Colin B. Grant shares the same commitment to a philosophical theory of communication but issues a range of challenges to Habermas’ magnum opus. Uncertainty and Communication mounts a critique of theories of dialogism and intersubjectivity, proposes a radical rethinking of the communicating subject in society and explores the new contingencies of culture and media in our interconnected global communication system.

COLIN B. GRANT is Professor of Communication Studies and Head of School, Department of Culture and Communication at the University of Surrey, UK. He is Chair, Philosophy of Communication Section, European Communication Research and Education Association. His publications include Literary Communication From Consensus to Rupture, Functions and Fictions of Communication (co-editor with D. McLaughlin), Language-Meaning-Social Construction, Rethinking Communicative Interaction (editor).

Acknowledgements * Why Communication is Not as Certain as We Might Think * Intersubjectivity, Dialogue and the Limits of Sharedness * The Limited Reach of Universal Pragmatics * The Limited Reach of Communication Systems * Uncertainty and Social Communication Theory * The Communicating Subject * Radical Translation and Interpretation Across Ideologies and Cultures * New Communication Uncertainties and Mediapolitics * Notes * Bibliography * Index